To Change The Order
by Alan Spencer
Summary: The bullying campaign gave Taylor Hebert the strongest weapon of all: information and control over it, in digital form. She intends to use it to make her bullies, Emma first, face justice. Things snowball from there. Aiden!Taylor Altpower.
1. The Vigilante

**1\. The Vigilante**

Taylor observed Emma Barnes and some of her friends shopping through a camera's lens. She followed them across the shop through the security cameras, sometimes taking advantage of somebody's phone. Their talk was simply chit chat, so having to heard it was unbearable. But she had patience.

She was doing all of this from outside the shopping center, sitting down a bench, dressed so that they could not recognize her, unless they looked too closely. Just a normal girl fiddling with her phone. They wouldn't find out she had accessed the cameras, let alone trace it back to her. She was too good to be foiled by such a simple security system.

As a child, she had done that with Emma. She hadn't never be comfortable in places like that, even though back them she hadn't been conscious of her appearance. But she went anyway, because Emma had been her best friend, and she made everything fun. Those images fueled her resentment. She didn't want to take back the friendship she had destroyed with her own hands, of course. Not anymore. But she still thought that none of it should have happened.

Finally, with all the shopping done, they headed outside and went their separate ways. She pulled up her neck-warmer scarf, covering half of her face. Then, she did the same with the hood of her trench coat and started to follow her, hands jammed into her pockets.

She stayed close to her, but not too much, so she wouldn't give herself away.

Taylor had been preparing for nearly a month, using the idea of making her pay for everything she had done to her as a way of protecting her sanity. She had made her house's basement-which hadn't been in use-her lair. She had placed all her equipment there: her old computer upgraded with spare parts, several monitors connected to it, expandable batons and piled up diagrams of the gadgets she thought she could build, all of them hand draw.

She had placed cameras in Emma's house and observed her every move from the basement, studying her schedule, the people that were now close to her, every piece of information that she could get hands on. She had told herself that it could wait, that preparation was important. It was the truth, almost, but it reached a certain point where she became aware that she was just putting it off, afraid of what could happen. What could she do.

No more. They, all three of them, certainly hadn't hesitated even for a moment. They didn't deserve mercy.

Taylor had been waiting for a chance and she saw it. She took out her phone from her pocket, hacked into a nearby security camera and manipulated it. She replaced what it was recording with footage it had recorded earlier today.

Emma was waiting for the traffic light to turn green to cross the road. She approached her for behind, covered her mouth with one hand and dragged her into a nearby ally. She yelled, struggled and kicked her. Her calls for help were muffled by her hand.

While dragging her, she turned the corner and slammed Emma against the wall of the alley. She couldn't deny she enjoyed the fear in her eyes.

"Shut up." she said, her voice distorted. It had been one of the first things she had built, a measure intended to protect her identity and to intimidate her enemies. "If you do as you're told, this doesn't have to get ugly."

Emma punched her in the face. She had to admit that caught her off guard. She grabbed one of her arms and twisted it, to the point she heard the bone pop. Her power had given her an instinctual understanding and knowledge of fighting. If she applied a bit of pressure, she could break her arm. She was tented to do it, but held back.

"Didn't I make myself clear?"

"Please." Emma begged her. "D-don't do this. My family… we aren't rich, but we have a lot of money. They will give you whatever amount you want if you let me go, safe and sound. Don't touch me."

She hadn't recognized her and she was assuming 'he' intended to rape her. Which was normal, now that she thought about it. But what she saw in her eyes was different that the fear every person had for it, it was like… she had already experienced that pain before. Because of that, she made a quick decision. She pulled down her scarf and moved the device away from her mouth.

"I'm not interested in your body." Taylor said.

"Taylor..." fear had paralyzed her. Anger that she was the one doing this to her, somebody she considered a shit-stain, gave back her energy. She thrashed, struggling to get away from her. She bit her hand, even.

"Okay. That's far enough."

Taylor subdued her, maybe using more force that was strictly necessary. She went down, with her on the top. She punched her repeatedly and fend off her weak attempts at defending herself. It was difficult to keep control, when finding yourself in a position of power over your aggressor, having been powerless for so long. The rush she had when looking at Emma's tear stained face and her body, which was shaking with fear, made her felt dirty.

This was supposed to be about justice, not revenge.

"We were friends, once." Taylor said. "What happened? Start talking."

And she obediently did. While about halfway done with her story, she saw in her face that she hoped for pity, that she would back down. Emma had been attacked by gangbangers, nearly raped and Shadow Stalker, which was now one of the Wards, had saved her.

Her disbelief at that this was the only reason she had destroyed her friendship, made her suffer, disappeared and was replaced by a dark fury when she told her who was behind the mask of her savior.

"Shadow Stalker is Sophia Hess..." her hands gripped Emma's shoulder's more tightly, to the point she grimaced in pain.

"Yes, she is. Let me go, please."

Her eyes were hollow. It seemed that having to relieve the events by retelling them had sucked out her soul and there was nothing left in her body.

Taylor stood up. Emma had seen her face, so she could get her in trouble with the authorizes. Or get the support of Shadow Stalker in order to take revenge of her.

Was it really wise to let her go, knowing what she knew?

She always carried three things with her when she went out: her phone, an extendable baton… and a pistol with a silencer. She took it out, turned the safety off and pointed it at Emma.

"Please, no! Don't!" she raised her hands to the level of her head, as if her arms could shield her from a bullet. "You're not a killer, Taylor."

More that a year and half was a long time. People changed. At this point, she didn't really know her. Her scream might have attracted some attention, but she could get away before anybody came.

Taylor pulled the trigger.

The bulled embedded itself on the ground, inches away from Emma's head. She trembled, sobbing. She had gotten the message.

"Don't tell Sophia about this, and feign normality. If you don't, I will know. I always have eyes on you. And the next bullet will be between your eyes." her voice trembled. Her hands too, a little. She holstered the gun and put the microphone and the scarf into place, slipping fully back into the role she had built for herself.

"I will, I promise. T-thank you."

Taylor walked out of the alley relaxed, like nothing had happened. When she was out of sight, she returned the hacked camera back to normal, using another camera to access it from afar.

Shadow Stalker, Sophia…

She would be the next one to face justice.


	2. A Shadow Cast Before Me

**2.A Shadow Cast Before Me**

Taylor watched the footage being recorded by the hidden cameras she had installed in Emma's house, changing between them periodically. Emma's house was closer to the shopping center she had visited that her own was, of course, but she hadn't arrived yet.

The assault had affected her and she was walking back home slowly, afraid of every shadow. She had made her aware of how vulnerable people were, once again. She knew this without a doubt, because she also checked her phone constantly, to act if she tried to inform the authorities… or Shadow Stalker. Well, she was also one, though she hated to admit it.

Her mother was in the kitchen, preparing beef stew for dinner, she presumed, while humming Red River Valley. Then, she broke into song. Her voice resounded in the basement, coming through the speakers of her computer.

"From this valley they say you are going… we will miss your bright eyes and sweet smiiiiile..."

When she had be monitoring Emma, she had also done investigated her parents. She had wanted to be a singer, had made a few tries but married and gave up on her dream. A shame. She had a good voice.

Somebody rang the bell. Taylor switched cameras, to one who had a good view of the front door, just in time to see Emma open it. She looked worn, but she couldn't bring herself to felt bad about it. She was simply getting a taste of what she had done to her, repeatedly, without doubting or feeling remorse about it.

Yes, of course. Except… she hadn't needed to get violent with her, back at the alley. She could have easily subdued her without harming her. And she had took pleasure in it.

Emma's mother, Alessa, stopped and went to greet her daughter. The smile on her face, a smile of love, made her stomach turn and she wasn't even sure why.

"Did you have a good time with your friends, dear?"

"Ah, yes. Yes, I did." she wasn't doing a good job at feigning normalcy, skittish, her eyes incapable of staying fixed in one place. It was a good thing she hadn't left bruises in visible places, because she couldn't have been able to think of a convincing cover story.

"Are you feeling well?"

"Y-yes. I'm just a little bit tired, mom. I'm going to my room."

As Alessa watched her daughter go up the stairs, the light in her eyes died a slow death. The pitch black past had come back to haunt her.

Taylor 'walked' with Emma to her bedroom, from camera to camera. There were more camera's installed there that in the entire house, so she could see everything from several angles. Emma got in her bed, lifted the covers up to her neck and stayed there, lightly trembling. For a moment, she feared she would have a panic attack strong enough to kill her.

Dying at this point meant she would get away with everything. There was no point to what she had done if Emma didn't have to live with her pain and the changed circumstances.

This was her way of copping, Taylor guessed. Locking herself in her room, going away from the world, from anything that could hurt her. Not so different from herself, in the end.

Emma's phone was in the pocket of her skirt.

Taylor hacked into it and got a record of her conversations, recovering the ones she had deleted. She found what she had expected: proof that she hadn't lied in an attempt to intimidate her, that Sophia Hess was really a Ward.

Damn. While monitoring her, she had checked every text she sent and received and listened to each call. She had thought that would be enough for her purposes. She had seen some of her conversations with Sophia and had downloaded the ones in which they planned ways to bully her into her own phone, as evidence. But she hadn't checked the deleted data, because she hadn't even imagined she would have a secret of this caliber.

She wouldn't make that mistake again.

Emma grabbed her phone. She watched, waiting to see what she was doing with it. Her approached one of the keys, she was going to type a one.

"Oh, you bitch." Taylor said, conversationally. She wasn't going to let her continue. She had Sophia's number on speed dial, and one was the number she need to type to call her.

She interrupted her typing. White, stylized letters appeared on her screen, in front of a broken Z on a dark background. They read: STOP. She did, her in face twisted in panic and confusion. Taylor called her. Calls she made from this phone couldn't be tracked, unless she wanted to. Or if the one doing the tracking was just as good or better that her at this. Emma picked up, the hand holding the phone trembling.

"W-who's this?"

"You know who I am." she said, with her distorted voice. "I told you I always have eyes on you. You should have listened. You were going to tell her, right?"

"I, no..."

"Don't lie to me."

"Are you a Parahuman?"

"Don't say anything unless I ask you first. You have been trying my patience already, don't make me lose it, all right?"

"Yes. I understand."

"I will make things clear, because it seems you need it. If you try anything, I will know. Even if you manage to contact the Protectorate, to inform them of what I have done to you today, you won't win. I have been monitoring you for a month, so I have lots of blackmail material. I will speak too and I have a louder voice, and more things to say. Let's see what happens then. Your choice."

"...I won't do it again."

"Good girl."

Taylor hung up.

Emma got out of bed and looked around her room, searching for what she was monitoring her with. Amusing, but futile. She wouldn't find anything, unless she picked up a hammer or some other heavy tool and smashed the walls and the floor.

Even if she found them, there was nothing she could do about it. Both of them knew it, though Taylor was the only one who admitted it. Why? Because…

"I got you now." Taylor whispered, in the darkness of the basement.

* * *

Emma: The PRT came to my house.

Sophia: Shit. What was that about?

Emma: Asked a lot of questions, to me and my mother-father was out, on a case. About our defense of you at the trial, my relationship with you, if I noticed anything suspicious going on…

Emma: I think they know about the bodies.

Sophia: Don't talk about that.

Emma: Sorry. What do we do?

Sophia: We need to talk about this, in person.

Emma: How about the alley were we meet? As good of a meeting place as any, right?

Sophia: Yeah. Okay. Let's meet there, at 11: 30 PM. Don't be late.

* * *

Sophia stepped into the alley. She was wearing civilian clothes, a white blouse with a low cut top and black pants.

Emma was nowhere to be seen, despite the urgency that the situation demanded. As she looked around, searching her surroundings, her cold eyes which reflected the moonlight seemed like the eyes of a hawk.

A valve burst. The steam enveloped her, its pressure high, making it hard to breathe. She turned her body into shadow, fearing an enemy would try to take advantage of that moment of weakness. She stepped out of the steam and went back to her normal state.

There was a construction site in front of her. On the half finished building, crouched down in the dark, she saw a person. The enemy.

The lingering pain provoked by the steam energized her body. There was no fear, no wondering why that person was after her. Only excitement over the fight which was about to happen. Because of that, she nearly forgot to grab the mask she had brought with her and put it on. She had her suspicious about this from the start, and prepared accordingly.

She took one of her crossbows from inside her coat, loaded it, and aimed. There was not much distance between them.

She could make the shot.


	3. Bloodstains

**3\. Bloodstains**

NO DATA: I've got a job for you. There's a construction site near Lakeview Street. I want you there at 11: 20 PM, to install a camera. I will tell you how to do it.

EMMA: Why?

NO DATA: For a reason you don't need to know, and as a test of your loyalty. As I said before, it's your choice.

EMMA: I understand.

* * *

The arrow flew through the air.

It should have hit the target in the neck, but it moved at the last second, a little to the left, avoiding what would have been a fatal blow if it wasn't a Brute. The arrow hit one of its shoulders, instead. It toppled to the ground, with a pained, delayed scream. From the sound, it was a woman... wait.

Her heartbeat speed up.

That had been Emma's voice, no doubt. Her mind raced to parse what had just happened, but something stopped her, like she had a circuit breaker in her head activated by high stress. She had killed people before. One of them had been an accident, an intimidation tactic gone wrong, but the others had been done by her own will. She hadn't wanted to hurt her, and she didn't really deserve it.

She drew in a breath, trying to compose herself. The as of yet unseen enemy had impersonated Emma to drawn her here, and had probably done the same to Emma to get her into position, setting up a murder without even dirtying her hands. Only a lucky move at the last second had made the plan fail.

For what reason? To frame her. It made sense. They were targeting her, and this would make her life crumble down. A murder would have shattered what goodwill she had managed to built up with the Protectorate, and their reactions would been even worse when her other transgressions came to light because of it.

She ran towards the building. She put strength into her legs and jumped, turning into shadow mid leap. That allowed her to cover more ground. It was the method she used to get around while she was patrolling, both as a Ward and as the real Shadow Stalker.

First, she would get to Emma, make sure the girl didn't die. She might have some information about who was being this. Even if it wasn't around the area, she would eventually hunt it down, kill it and dispose of the body.

It was a threat she couldn't ignore, and bringing the situation to the attention of the Protectorate would bring her more problems that it solved, problems that would be the critical, crippling blow that killing Emma by accident could have been.

* * *

Taylor was as far as she could, while still being able to observe the construction site through the various cameras installed there, inside of a car. Her power also gave her the ability to ride all sorts of vehicles with proficiency. She had rented this one, making use of the money she had stolen from gang members and other criminals.

She didn't like to steal, even if it was from those kinds of people, but it grew a little bit easier every day. It helped that she had investigated each person before stealing from them, to be sure that they didn't have special circumstances, that they lived that life because of their own choices. Besides, at least, she was using the money for good.

 _Except… this has little to do with good._ She pushed away that dark thought. It was about time for the main star to arrive.

She stepped inside that alley as Sophia Hess, not Shadow Stalker. But that didn't meant she didn't suspect anything. She shouldn't drop her guard.

To make sure she was a Parahuman, she made a valve near her burst. The high pressure steam enveloped her, making her unable to see her. She stepped out the steam, a living shadow, then returned to her normal state. There was no room for doubt anymore. She wouldn't hesitate again.

Sophia took out a crossbow, already loaded, and aimed for Emma, who was in the process of getting her camera set up, crouching, following the instructions she had given her.

"Move to the left!" Taylor yelled.

The arrow flew through the air.

"W-what?"

"Now, move!"

Fortunately, she obeyed. That saved her life. The arrow hit her in the shoulder, instead of the throat. Taylor covered her mouth with one hand, her whole body trembling. She wasn't holding in a scream of her own, but a laugh that was climbing up her throat.

This was the final piece, the absolute worst thing she could do to Emma, now that she had all the pieces. It wasn't about the wound. She didn't expect Sophia to leave her to die, nor did she want that to happen. With this, Emma would see the vulnerability of her protector, and the beliefs she had built up with Sophia as a base would come crashing down. Her world would crumble and the damage probably wouldn't ever been repaired.

 _Why I'm laughing at something like this?_

Taylor tried to calm down.

Sophia, with a mask on, approached the construction site, jumping and turning into shadow in order to cover more ground. She switched to another camera, to get the best view of the third floor, where Emma was.

She reached the third floor. With eyes half closed, dazed, Emma looked at Sophia. Her shoulder had stopped bleeding, but… there was a lot of blood drenching her arm and pooling on the ground. The bloodstained arrow stuck in her flesh seemed like some kind of grotesque flag.

Taylor swallowed.

"Sophia?" Emma said, her voice coarse due to the screaming.

"Yeah, it's me. Hold on." Sophia knelt next to her, and gripped the arrow's shaft. "Grit your teeth. This is going to hurt."

She nodded, tears streaming down her face. Sophia pulled, twisted… it broke in half. Emma let out a gasp and started twitching. Sophia cut a piece of her coat and used it to bandage Emma's wound. It was quickly drenched in blood. She looked to the side, noticing the camera that she hadn't been able to finish installing.

"What were you doing?" she looked to the side, noticing the camera that she hadn't been able to finish installing. "Do you know who's behind this, Emma? Talk to me."

Taylor needed to hear her answer, to know how to proceed. Then, and only then, she would go away.

"Taylor." Emma breathed out. "Its Taylor."

"No way."

"I mean it. She… she ordered me to install that camera here. That bitch set this up. I'm sure of it."

"Is she a Parahuman?"

"Yes… I mean, I don't know, but… it seems so."

Sophia grabbed the phone from the ground and raised it to her ear.

"I'm going to kill you." she said.

"I would like to see you try." Taylor answered, her voice distorted. She knew who she was, but it would been unwise to leave evidence of it being true.

She cut off the call, started up the car and drove away. Although her body was still shaken, her mind was going through the plans she had made, revising them, considering new angles.

* * *

Sophia approached the edge of the building, looking around, just in case she was still in the area. She couldn't believe that Taylor, of all people, would be the one being this… but Emma hadn't lied. She would have to accept it.

"Call an ambulance." she said. "You know what story to tell, right? I faced the attacker, and I had no choice but to use lethal ammunition, since she escalated first. Okay?"

"Of course."

She saw a nearby car star up and drive away. It could be nothing, but…

"I'm going to check something up."

* * *

Taylor noticed a shadow out of the corner of her eye, on the rooftops. It couldn't be…? But it was. Sophia was following her, crossbow in hand. How? No, that didn't matter. The reality was that it was happening, and she needed to take care of that problem.

In a straight out fight, she had no chance. But she didn't have any intention to turn this into a straight out fight. Her strengths laid elsewhere. Like in escaping. Taylor would make her lose track of her, ditch the car, go back home then contact her to make sure this didn't become a bigger problem, using her blackmail material as leverage. Tonight, she had added one to the pile: the fact that Emma had been wounded by one of her arrows. She was supposed to use tranquilizer darts, not lethal force.

Taylor kept track of Sophia, while driving. She landed on a nearby rooftop, went back to her normal state and fired.

She changed direction, in order to avoid the arrow.

Sophia jumped from the rooftop, turning into shadow as she fell. She landed on her car's hood, one hand on the glass to steady herself. She fired an arrow at the engine, using her power on it then turning it off when it went through the metal.

It did damage. Taylor lost control of the car, and didn't manage to get it back. She crashed against a nearby building, sending the civilians nearby running.

Taylor unhooked the seat belt, then opened the door, gun in hand. Sophia was right outside, aiming her crossbow at her. Of course. Crashing wasn't a problem for her, since she could just turn into shadow.

"Freeze!" Sophia said.

Taylor reached inside her pocket to take her phone out, giving her an excuse to fire. She hacked into the crossbow. When she tried to kill her, the mechanism didn't function properly. The arrow didn't fly. She paused, looking at her weapon in disbelief for just an instant, which was more that enough for her.

The gun spoke its word twice.

The second bullet missed her because she turned into shadow, but the other landed near her heart. Had she killed her? That was a question if she could stay in that state long enough to receive medical attention, but that wasn't a concern right now.

She ran.

* * *

Taylor had managed to get away, and had throw her coat in the trash at the first opportunity in order to be able to blend in with the crowd, since it was stained with Sophia's blood. She started walking back home. She hadn't thought about what she was doing before, but then she realized she couldn't go back. Not anymore.

What she'd done, killing or at least seriously wounding Shadow Stalker, had made her the enemy of the Protectorate and the Wards. People at the scene would have recorded it, and the video would been already circulating on the internet. Not to mention what she did to Emma. Sophia might not been able to say anything to anyone anymore, _might_ , but Emma was still alive and surely willing to speak.

Her equipment was still in the basement of her house, important information about her capabilities.

Taylor couldn't go back anymore, but wouldn't hand her head to the Protectorate on a silver platter. She needed to get there, delete the data in her computer and get away without getting captured in the process.

Easier said that done.


End file.
